New Zealand Bans Greyhound Racing – UK Must Follow Suit

This is a fantastic step for greyhounds, who suffer terribly in the name of this ‘sport’. Greyhound racing sees greyhounds chase a mechanical hare around an oval track, for the benefit of profit and entertainment. Injuries and deaths are commonplace – there were 109 trackside deaths in Great Britain alone in 2023, as well as 4,238 injuries.

Aside from these horrors, greyhounds face a life of misery away from the track. Kennelled for 95% of their time with little enrichment or socialisation, these dogs face a life of exploitation where cases of abuse, doping and cruel abandonment are rife.

Furthermore, approximately 10 x more dogs are bred than are required to race, meaning that there are thousands of dogs leaving the industry each year – or who never make it to a race track at all. There are huge concerns regarding the numbers of puppies who go ‘missing’ between registration and birth – disturbingly often known to the industry as ‘wastage’. Horrifically, there have been countless reports of dogs no longer of ‘use’ to the industry being discarded in the cruellest of ways – including being shot and buried in mass graves, thrown into the sea, and shipped abroad to race illegally, be bred from, and/or sold for meat.

In an industry which uses dogs as mere instruments to make money, their welfare is never put first. The suffering greyhounds have, and continue, to endure in the name of this ‘sport’ is shameful and inexcusable.

Says Iain Green, Animal Aid Director:

‘New Zealand have made the compassionate decision to ban greyhound racing, and it is time for the UK to follow suit. As one of the only nations in the world left where greyhound racing is still legal, Animal Aid is calling on the UK government to ban greyhound racing and end the needless suffering of thousands of dogs each year. If a country is measured on how they treat animals, then we are falling dangerously short. No animal should be harmed in the name of ‘sport’; it’s time to end this cruelty now.’

 

Notes for Editors

• Read Animal Aid’s briefing sheet on greyhound racing
• Injury and death data from the Greyhounds Board of Great Britain’s annual statistics
• 95% statistic from The state of greyhound racing in Great Britain, A mandate for change, by Grey2KUSA Worldwide and The League Against Cruel Sports